


And She Stays (But she's completely changed)

by Nessarin_the_greatish



Series: Raydia Week!! [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/F, Heavy Angst, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Sorry, Near Death Experiences, Self-Hatred, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:57:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nessarin_the_greatish/pseuds/Nessarin_the_greatish
Summary: In life you cannot just take. There are consequences. There are repercussions; Claudia being a spitting image of that.There was never an easy way to magic, as ultimately you are selling your soul away piece by piece.Out of a sacrifice came another,  so here is where it all shifted. Where everything, including Claudia, fell apart.Or, a powerful spell to save a loved one is how Claudia nearly destroys herself.





	And She Stays (But she's completely changed)

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3: sacrifice/changes

For those who you love, you're willing to give them everything, and you're willing to lose it all for them too.

 

Think of dark magic is a hourglass; there is only so much of it you can use until nothing remains, until time runs out. And Claudia uses her last seconds on Rayla.

 

\--

 

They were running out of time, and Claudia could no longer bare the screams and shuddering breaths of the people she cared for, she couldn't watch them suffer, she just couldn't she couldn't—

 

\--

 

_ It happens too fast for Rayla to protest and she hates that. In one moment she goes from fearing death, to welcoming it, to asking that Claudia isn't to bare such a weight alone. But time isn't hers to keep, it's something she's stolen, and one the world steals back.  _

 

\--

 

_ “Claudia? Claudia, wake up.” _

 

_ “i need you to, to be OK, I need you to wake up, please— I, I need you.” _

 

\--

 

Three days later Claudia wakes up and screams at how her skin is purple, itching, how her green eyes are gone and how nothing but a familiar darkness is swirling around her stomach leaving her nauseated. But Rayla is there to hold her and soothe her sobs and calm down the sickness climbing up her throat. 

 

“It's OK, it's gonna be OK, it's OK I promise I promise,” Rayla repeats, again and again until the words are glued into Claudia's mind. A mantra she wants to, but doesn't quite believe. 

 

\--

 

_ Rayla understands why Claudia cast the spell, she's a hero really, but she didn't know being a hero would mean her unravelling. If Rayla had known, she would have been the villain and stolen her away, before she could nearly destroy herself.  _

 

_ Perhaps it's a horrible, selfish thought, but watching the vibrant emerald of her eyes disappear, the colour that made up Claudia, in place of such a darkness, devoid of any life or mercy terrified Rayla even more so than a slightly twisted way of thinking.  _

 

_ That's just how things are _ . 

 

\--

 

Claudia is constantly repulsed by her reflection, and most of her nights are sleepless and sobbing, helpless as ever in Rayla’s arms

 

During the days she's quiet and keeps her head down, facing anyone aside from Rayla had grown difficult. 

 

She's shattered, and now only a piece of herself remains. 

 

\--

 

“A cure, there has to be a cure,”

 

Claudia has already given up. 

 

“It's OK Rayla, I don't think there is. “ she chances a smile, but her muscles are untrained. 

 

“No, no I promised it would be OK. You can't live like this forever—”

 

“I've been living like this for nearly 2 months.”

 

Rayla stills. She leans forward and rests her hand on Claudia's cheek. 

 

“No, no…Claudia this isn't living, not like this…”

 

“But I have you.”

 

The storm within Rayla's eyes soften and a small, rare smile emerges instead. Closer, closer. Claudia is thankful of these moments. That Rayla isn't repulsed by her, or that she hides it well enough. 

 

\--

 

Claudia is a prisoner of the wreckage she's caused, which is something she grows to accept, something Rayla tells her to forget. Though she is a personified symbol of that message, and it's etched into her,  _ is  _ her. Nothing can erase that. That is what she learns. 

 

\--

 

What goes around comes around, and if this is the price she has to pay, she's glad that Rayla wasn't apart of the bargain. 

 

\--

 

_ Claudia stays, but she's completely changed, yet Rayla knows deep down she's still the same.  _

 

_ If only she would laugh like she used to, and then maybe Rayla would be entirely sane.  _

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> It's nearly 1am I'm sorry for any confusion/heartbreak I've caused :/


End file.
